Social Democrat Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser's vacation scandal is not the only one embroiling Germany. It seems top politicians love to go on holiday at the worst possible times – or they simply don't care that much about the job they are tasked with.

As V4NA reported the other day, German Social Democratic Federal Internal Affairs Minister Nancy Faeser rewarded herself with a holiday in Mallorca after her stunning defeat in the Hessen state election, while at home the streets are aflame and anti-Semitism is raging to an extent not seen in decades. Furthermore, storms of historical severity pummeled the northern part of the country in the past few days, while the minister also responsible for disaster management was basking in the rays on sunny Mallorca.

It seems to be the fashion in Germany that top politicians take their holidays at the worst possible times. Going on vacation is a tricky thing for key politicians because instead of a period of relaxation, it winds up costing some people their jobs. In 2002, Federal Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping was fired, among other reasons, for taking pictures with his new partner splashing in a pool in Mallorca, while the German defense forces (Bundeswehr) he was responsible for were preparing for an important deployment abroad. He was fired at that time by Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, who today would probably be happy if this were the only scandal he could be accused of. The Germans are also famous for their corruption scandals, but that is another story.

The political demise of Anne Spiegel, the former Green Party Federal Minister for Family Affairs, ultimately came when she went on a four-week family vacation ten days after the devastating flood in the Ahr Valley, which claimed more than a hundred lives. This was a huge mistake because she happened to still be the state’s environmental protection minister at the time.

++ Eilmeldung ++ In #Erftstadt-Blessem sind Häuser massiv unterspült worden und einige eingestürzt. Es werden etliche Personen vermisst. Aus den Häusern kommen Notrufe, aber eine Rettung ist vielfach nicht möglich. Unser Katastrophenschutz ist vor Ort. Fotos: Rhein-Erft-Kreis pic.twitter.com/Waaq3tMciM

— Bezirksregierung Köln (@BezRegKoeln) July 16, 2021

But the untimely holiday wasn’t the only thing that brought all-out fire on the head of the ministry. In the hours before the disaster, the state environmental protection office informed the locals that ‘there is no need to prepare for extraordinary flooding’. Soon after, entire settlements were swept away by the raging river. Instead of offering prompt assistance, Spiegel immediately started formulating her own defence. The portal Focus published an exchange of messages between Spiegel and her assistants, which revealed that they were discussing how the ministry could most effectively escape from being called to account and how to minimize political damage. One message read:

„The blame (search for culprits) can begin immediately, it is necessary to state that we sent out warnings in time, that we always made all data transparent, that I warned the cabinet and that everything would have turned out even worse if we had not taken preventive and precautionary measures, etc.”

Because of this and for her past mistake, she was later forced to resign shortly after becoming Federal Minister of Family Affairs.

Das Ende der erstaunlichen Presseerklärung von Bundesministerin #AnneSpiegel zu den Vorwürfen gegen Sie im Zusammenhang mit der Flutkatastrophe heute Abend. pic.twitter.com/JUThTY8VrE

— Markus Feldenkirchen (@MFeldenkirchen) April 10, 2022

Former Social Democrat Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht also had a long list of her antics, but it was already hard for people to swallow the fact that she spent one and a half to two weeks off from her ministerial position, which caused her to miss several official programs. Later, she went on Easter holidays – likely using the Bundeswehr helicopter for private purposes – and she was also reported for violating official secrets when it turned out that she had taken her son to a secret military base, from where he posted on his social media page. Lambrecht was eventually forced to hand over the baton.

According to the German newspaper Stern, symbolism also plays an extremely important role in politics, and the general rule of thumb applies here: the more tense a situation is, the less the cause for merriment. Thus, if someone is so uninterested in performing the work that comes with their position, or if that work can simply be done do without them, it raises the question of that official’s necessity.